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People in English-speaking countries often talk about how exotic other cultures' diets are, such as French eating snails and frogs or Chinese eating snake or Koreans and Japanese eating odd sea creatures or Peruvians eating guinea pigs.
I know there are obviously hunters and gourmets who like game meat in Anglo countries and you have exemplars like in the USA, the Cajun style of hunting gator and other wild game meat, or seal meat or kangaroo meat in Australia and Canada, but in general it seems Anglo countries eat a lot fewer animals than Asian, African, Latin American or even some European countries.
Some of this might have to do with industrialization, but then again, Japan is very wealthy and industrialized and yet there is a reputation of "weird" (from an Anglo perspective) food animals caught there.
Yes I've observed this too. I'm surprised a lot of Americans are even squeamish about lamb since you're not used to it, since they're missing out. Ironically hot dogs and crappy chicken nuggets.etc, which are ground up organs and off-cuts, are popular, ignorance is just bliss.
I'd say organs are more popular in the UK, especially Scotland. It's ironic you say 'Anglo' since TRADITIONALLY English and other British fare included A LOT of offal. Haggis being one of the better known examples, but even an English dish with a politically incorrect name in America, 'fagg0ts', which is offal in gravy, still served in pubs in England. There are things like blood pudding and sausage which are still eaten by many English people, which would make most Americans squirm.
There is a bit of a revival of organ meat among 'foodies', and in fine dining...but yes, it does seem that other cultures are still more open to organ-meat. I myself am a bit hesitant about a lot of organ meat, I had tripe recently and wasn't a fan, but am trying to be more open minded.
Oh sorry I don't know why I focused so much on offal, guess it's related to being squeamish...as for game meats, well to me it's no big deal. I've had the obvious ones of course, beef, pork, chicken, lamb, as well as goat, venison, hare, rabbit, wild boar, alligator, crocodile, kangaroo, goanna (a type of snake), emu, duck, turkey, goose, pheasant...it really is true though, since we're so used to chicken/beef.etc and they're our default, most other animals can be compared to them.
Because they’re easy to farm. Game, by definition, is wild (although some is farmed nowadays). Medieval England had a very wide (and wild) diet—for those who could afford it. Most people ate very poorly and were lucky to have meat at all. Once it became about feeding meat to a large number of people, the options became standardized and limited.
I'd say organs are more popular in the UK, especially Scotland. It's ironic you say 'Anglo' since TRADITIONALLY English and other British fare included A LOT of offal. Haggis being one of the better known examples, but even an English dish with a politically incorrect name in America, 'fagg0ts', which is offal in gravy, still served in pubs in England. There are things like blood pudding and sausage which are still eaten by many English people, which would make most Americans squirm.
According to Andrew Hussey in his BBC4 Programme 'The North on a Plate', the eating of all of the animal was particularly linked to religion and strongly associated with Catholicism, where by waste was seen as a mortal sin. Whilst poverty in areas such as the North West which he highlighted was also a major factor.
Our diet also traditionally includes a good deal of sea food (fish and chips being only one example), as well as stew such as Scouse and Lancashire Hotpot, and indeed pies (Wigan in the North West being the epicentre of the pie world), there are also foods designed to fill you up like Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Beef or Mince and Dumplings, Shepherds Pie, Fish pie etc.
However it should be noted that the British have always been quick to borrow spices from overseas, and enjoy spicy curries and indeed food from around the world, and the British diet today is very international like many western countries.
We have French Restaurants and restaurants representing most countries and cultures throughout the world in the UK, and we eat a range of foods, including snails, but only usually the Sea variety known as Whelks or Winkles, and usually with lots of vinegar and a pint. Jellied Eels are also still eaten in parts of London, and London and other cities have a history of oyster vendors.
The only thing the British don't generally eat are insects, amphibians, domestic animals and horses. We have always had a close relationship with horses, however horse meat was on sale in post war Britain when rationing was still around and many people ate it at the time, however we prefer not to eat horses, dogs or cats. We will eat wild game though, including rabbits, game birds and even wood pigeons.
In the USA, all of those things are available to eat, except dog and horse. It seems that animals that can be raced for parimutuel wagering at the track are forbidden as part of the diet.
In other countries, it is actually extremely uncommon for people to eat dog or guinea pig or snake or snails or whatever, and you can't just go to any supermarket and find them laid out right there with chicken and pork. Most of those kinds of things are very expensive, and are eaten as part of ceremonial dishes, rather than a part of the regular diet.
Also, rich countries have their food processing highly industrialized, and meat processors are set up to mechanically handle only one kind of meat. So the large industries that dominate food processing turn out huge volumes of a limited kind of meat. Like, Hormel would not find it profitable to have a Possum Division.
Scallop - An expensive but popular bivalve recognisable by its pretty, fan-shaped shell. Very simple to fry and goes well with pork products such as chorizo.
Oyster - Typically a love-it-or-hate-it product and also expensive. Native oysters are homegrown and more expensive; rock or Pacific oysters come from warm waters. Add a few drops of shallot vinegar, perhaps lemon or Tabasco, and swallow raw.
Mussel - One of the cheapest and most readily eaten molluscs in the UK. If you want an alternative from moules marinières, try steaming with coconut milk, chilli, lime and coriander instead.
Whelk - These fat sea snails won't win any prizes in the looks department, but they're cheap and lend themselves well to all sorts of flavours. Cook, shelled, in a stir-fry.
Winkle - Periwinkles are the smallest sea snails that we eat. Extract the meat with a toothpick and dip in alioli, mustard or hot butter.
Cockle - A type of clam with the distinctive ridged shell you commonly see on British beaches. Steam like other clams or buy shelled and flavour with salt.
Clam - There are many types of clam and they can be steamed, just like mussels, in a few minutes. Classic clam dishes are the Italian spaghetti alla vongole and the Portuguese cataplana, a type of stew of clams with other fish, pork and chorizo.
Tripe was also popular in parts of Northern England, especially among mill workers, as it was refreshing to have after working in the cotton mills of Lancashire.
In the USA, all of those things are available to eat, except dog and horse. It seems that animals that can be raced for parimutuel wagering at the track are forbidden as part of the diet.
In other countries, it is actually extremely uncommon for people to eat dog or guinea pig or snake or snails or whatever, and you can't just go to any supermarket and find them laid out right there with chicken and pork. Most of those kinds of things are very expensive, and are eaten as part of ceremonial dishes, rather than a part of the regular diet.
Also, rich countries have their food processing highly industrialized, and meat processors are set up to mechanically handle only one kind of meat. So the large industries that dominate food processing turn out huge volumes of a limited kind of meat. Like, Hormel would not find it profitable to have a Possum Division.
Yes, aside from cui (guinea pig) in South America, eating dog or snake is not an everyday thing even in Asia. There is a ceremonial element to eating dog meat in Vietnam, China, Korea and Polynesia, same with snake and snake wine.
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